from the 2009 Merge release "Bonfires on the Heath"
This was the first song I ever got into by The Clientele, one of those bands that make really great records yet are ignored by most of the American music listening public because they sound “too British”. And it’s not British in that Kooks-ish or Kaiser Chiefs-ish sort of way where it’s really OBVIOUSLY British, like a foreigner who gets all the attention from American girls because of his accent. The Clientele don’t play any obvious games like that, but they do write the sort of no-frills, Nick Drake-ish morning dream pop that tends to work its way into these wee small hours. “Never Anyone But You” is as close to perfect this band has gotten (that is, until they released their latest EP, “Minotaur”–that title track is tits). The sparse, airy guitars seem to carry Alasdair MacLean’s shoestring vocals like a wind lightly pushing along a piece of paper, but the Clientele never waste any time getting to the hooks. Have a good morning with this one–it woke me up nice.
